Explaining Knowledge

New Essays on the Gettier Problem

Edited by Rodrigo Borges, Claudio de Almeida, and Peter D. Klein

Includes the 1963 paper by Edmund Gettier which kickstarted contemporary theory of knowledge

All other papers specially written for this volume

The most illustrious line-up of epistemologists ever assembled?

Suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of epistemology

Explaining Knowledge

New Essays on the Gettier Problem

Edited by Rodrigo Borges, Claudio de Almeida, and Peter D. Klein

Description

The Gettier Problem has shaped most of the fundamental debates in epistemology for more than fifty years. Before Edmund Gettier published his famous 1963 paper, it was generally presumed that knowledge was equivalent to true belief supported by adequate evidence. Gettier presented a powerful challenge to that presumption. This led to the development and refinement of many prominent epistemological theories, for example, defeasibility theories, causal theories, conclusive-reasons theories, tracking theories, epistemic virtue theories, and knowledge-first theories. The debate about the appropriate use of intuition to provide evidence in all areas of philosophy began as a debate about the epistemic status of the 'Gettier intuition'. The differing accounts of epistemic luck are all rooted in responses to the Gettier Problem. The discussions about the role of false beliefs in the production of knowledge are directly traceable to Gettier's paper, as are the debates between fallibilists and infallibilists. Indeed, it is fair to say that providing a satisfactory response to the Gettier Problem has become a litmus test of any adequate account of knowledge even those accounts that hold that the Gettier Problem rests on mistakes of various sorts. This volume presents a collection of essays by twenty-six experts, including some of the most influential philosophers of our time, on the various issues that arise from Gettier's challenge to the analysis of knowledge. Explaining Knowledge sets the agenda for future work on the central problem of epistemology.

Contributors:

Rodrigo Borges: Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul Peter Blouw: University of Waterloo Jessica Brown: University of St. Andrews Wesley Buckwalter: University of Waterloo E.J. Coffman: University of Tennessee Claudio de Almeida: Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul Fred Dretske: formerly Duke University Branden Fitelson: Northeastern University Richard Foley: New York University Alvin I. Goldman: Rutgers University John Hawthorne: University of Southern California Stephen Hetherington: University of New South Wales Risto Hilpinen: University of Miami Peter D. Klein: Rutgers University Jonathan L. Kvanvig: Washington University, St. Louis Keith Lehrer: University of Arizona Duncan Pritchard: University of Edinburgh Dani Rabinowitz: University of Oxford Sherrilyn Roush: King's College London Susanna Schellenberg: Rutgers University Robert K. Shope: University of Massachusetts, Boston Ernest Sosa: Rutgers University John Turri: University of Waterloo Jonathan Vogel: Amherst College Jonathan M. Weinberg: University of Arizona Linda Zagzebski: University of Oklahoma